Tom Allen Talks Return of Big Ten Football in Radio Interview

Tom Allen joined 1380 The Fan in Fort Wayne to talk about the return of Big Ten football and what his team is doing to prepare.

Dylan Wallace | Sep 18, 2020

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The excitement of the Big Ten football season continues to build as the programs await their new schedules for the season that is five weeks away.

Tom Allen joined 1380 The Fan in Fort Wayne to talk about how his team is preparing for the season, and what he likes about this year's squad.

On thinking if there wouldn't be a season:

"To be honest with you, there were a few times where I just wasn't sure," Allen said.

Allen said he tried to keep a positive mindset because that's how he handles life, but he admits there were times he didn't know if the season would be pulled off.

On dealing with his players

"That was the challenging part," Allen said.

He said because the information was always changing, it made it hard. Allen would tell his players one thing, then it would be different a day later.

"I said, 'Fellas, here's the bottom line, our season is imminent, I don't know when — two weeks, four months, two months — because it's going to happen eventually, and you got to take this time to be prepared.'"

It's why Allen adopted the Abraham Lincoln quote, "sharpen your axe" during this process because Lincoln once said, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

It's all about preparation for Allen and the Hoosiers.

On how he feels with the plan set in place

"I feel very comfortable," Allen said.

He admits it has taken a long time to set it up, but Indiana has a tremendous medical staff.

"It helps create confidence with our parents, players and coaches," Allen said. "It was a very challenging process, but I feel really good about it."

Allen feels even better about it because of the daily testing Indiana starting doing yesterday.

On players being accountable

"It's LEO. It's the program foundation, to really care about the people around you," Allen said.

Parties on the weekend and living like a normal college kid can't be risks the players can take this fall.

Allen said each player is going to have to make sacrifices, and he reminds them of all the sacrifices people have made, such as the medical staff, for them to get to this point where they can play the game they love.

On new offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan

"One of the reasons I wanted to promote someone within is because we had so much success the year before," Allen said.

He said the offense will have very few changes and the same terminology, but just a few tweaks here and there.

"Most players are back on offense and you want to keep that continuity," Allen said.

He mentioned the frustration of spring ball going only four practices, then fall camp only went four practices and once the season starts, there will be no bye week. So, he stressed the importance of keeping healthy, ready and the need to keep it simple.

On Michael Penix Jr.

"That's the number one goal," Allen said on keeping Penix healthy.

He said Penix has gained good weight and worked really hard to get bigger and stronger to take hits of the Big Ten.

He also said Penix needs to be smart, knowing when to slide or when to get hit.

"He needs to be the leader of this football team," Allen said.

He also talked about depth, and said how Jack Tuttle and Dexter Williams did really well in practice today. Allen wants his team three deep in every position.

On getting Whop Philyor back

"They got a great chemistry together," Allen said on Penix and Philyor.

During quarantine, the two would throw together in Tampa.

Allen also mentioned how Peyton Hendershot and Stevie Scott are back as well, which will help Penix to have so many weapons around him.

On last year's defense

Allen was very pleased with his defense a season ago.

He said he thought they had opportunities to put games away that they didn't.

"I'm so proud of how they finished against Tennessee and gave us a chance to win that game," Allen said.

The Hoosiers are returning nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, and Allen wants them to be a leading defense in the Big Ten.

Takeaways, tackling and effort are the three things they've built their defense on.

Preseason scrimmage

"We're allowed to have an inter-sqaud scrimmage," Allen said.

They call it preseason game number one, two and three.

Indiana won't get into pads until Sept. 30, but they still plan to have three scrimmages against one another before the season starts Oct. 23-24.

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